Vary Your Understanding Checks

Vary Your Understanding Checks

It is important to check for understanding in a variety of ways.

Often, it is the same students who answer questions posed by the teacher. This may be because the other students have disengaged mentally and are not listening, are afraid to show that they don't understand, or just rely on others to respond.

By using simple hand signals, index cards, paper plates, written checks, physical movement and other techniques, you can more accurately gauge the understanding of all of your students.

The next few pages will present some simple techniques you can use to check for understanding in a variety of ways.